Track Descriptions                        

A. Theory Track

A.1. Culture, race, and ethnicity in community-based collaborative research: This session seeks brief panel presentations and discussion on these issues central to community-based collaborative research (CBCR). Application to CBCR and links with theorists.

A.2. Power in community-based collaborative research: This session seeks brief panel presentations and discussion on the concept of power and the negotiation of power differentials across sectors engaged in CBCR. Theories of power and approaches to reducing power differentials through reflection on positionality and structural organizational and management changes are welcomed.

A.3. Applying Ecological Theory: This session seeks innovative interactive approaches to illustrate how ecological theory applies to multilevel community-based programs and intervention research. Can include games, role-plays, art-based activities etc.

A.4. Building logic models/theory from the ground up: This interactive session links practice to theory by working from examples of practice to the explanations or theories behind them. It seeks case examples of practice which permit exploration of predictors of change and expected outcomes (theoretical models). Those who have a program that needs a theory or logic model can submit their program to this session for discussion and review.

A.5. Building local knowledge: This session seeks case examples of projects where research teams either consist entirely of, or include, local community researchers, and the purpose of the research is to use the tools of science to develop "local knowledge" with local control, and frame it for community residents, policy makers and scientists as the basis for action. The generalizability of local knowledge will be a topic of interest.

B. Ethics Track

B.1. Research Ownership: Who owns the research methods and results in CBCR? Participatory research raises questions of research ownership. This session seeks case examples of ways ownership and use of research methods and results are negotiated among partners including discussions of challenges, issues, successes and lessons learned. Of special interest are questions of ownership when communities are transitory (e.g. youth or migrants).

B.2. CBCR Research Ethics: Interpreting and Obtaining Informed Consent: This workshop will outline the principles of informed consent (why is it needed, who and what does it protect, what is the meaning of "informed" etc., how does it work cross-culturally and cross-nationally), demonstrate typical core components of consent forms used in community-based collaborative research in the U.S. and elsewhere, and respond to specific issues around informed consent brought by attendees.

B.3. Ethical and methodological considerations in visual documentary research: This session seeks examples (including illustrations) of visual documentary research in CBCR (i.e. method, outcome, dissemination tool). Examples should include critical analysis of ethical and human subjects concerns, participation, and use and

projection of results.

B.4/C.2. Ethical and methodological considerations in visual documentary research: This session seeks examples (including illustrations) of visual documentary research in CBCR (i.e. method, outcome, dissemination tool). Examples should include critical analysis of ethical and human subjects concerns, participation, and use and projection of results.

C. Methods Track

C.1. Integrating mixed (qualitative, quantitative, arts-based) methods in research: This session seeks presentations that analyze the benefits and challenges of using mixed methods in CBCR projects.

C.2./B.4. Ethical and methodological considerations in visual documentary research: This session seeks examples (including illustrations) of visual documentary research in CBCR (i.e. method, outcome, dissemination tool). Examples should include critical analysis of ethical and human subjects concerns, participation, and use and projection of results.

C.3. Evaluating CBCR: This session seeks participants with experience in constructing evaluation designs that evaluate community wide, multilevel projects/interventions. Brief illustrated case studies should outline the strengths of different evaluation designs and to what degree they are participatory. Discussion will focus on evaluation science and alternative evaluation approaches.

C.4. Staffing Issues in CBCR: CBCR requires staff with multiple skills: research methods, facilitation, community organizing, communications and the ability to manage high levels of personal and social stress. It is difficult to find people with these requisite skills. This session seeks case examples of training, mentoring, on-the-job learning and other supports that help to employ and retain staff at all levels. Challenges will be discussed.

C.5. Challenges in university-community CBCR partnerships: This session seeks volunteers for a dialogue between university faculty and students, and community organizations about models for and difficulties in sustaining good partnerships and what kinds of structures, communication strategies, and negotiations about power and control are required to maintain them.

C.6. Crossing Boundaries: This session seeks community researchers who wish to share and participate in documenting the challenges (advantages, implications and risks) of doing research in their own communities. 'Community' can refer to ethnic or racial group, geography, social status, profession, age, correspondence of interest, risk behavior, sexual preference etc.

C.7. Participatory Action Research as a strategy for community change: This session seeks examples of ways community residents use research to investigate change options, and generate strategies for change.

C.8. Sustaining CBCR research teams: CBCR teams generally consist of a mixture of people including community-experienced local staff, service providers, interventionists, program staff, and researchers with various degrees and experience. Teams are often multi-ethnic and intergenerational. Team challenges such as communication, control, knowledge recognition, respect, status, power, and differences of opinion must be negotiated. This session seeks case examples outlining ways these and other such issues have been addressed, and what happens when they are not.

C.9. Student involvement in CBCR: Models of effective strategies. This session seeks examples of action research for service learning or other forms of student internships involving CBCR placements that contribute to a CBCR project, student learning and course curricula.

C.10. Participatory Evaluation Methods: This session seeks case examples of projects that utilize participatory evaluation methods.

C.11./D.8. Developing international research partnerships: This session seeks examples of international research partnerships, with special emphasis on "do's" and "don't's" in the formative, implementation and termination of these relationships. Special attention should be given to local and international political agendas in the definition of projects and relationships.

C.12 Folkarts and research: This session seeks contributions from programs that integrate research into folkarts programs or vice-versa. Challenges to developing, sustaining and promoting this work will be explored. Interdisciplinary, visual and other interactive ways of presenting and engaging with program staff, and participation of folklore/folk artists is encouraged.

D. Skills Track

D.1./E.4. Using the media to disseminate research results: This practical, "how-to" session will provide tips, tools and strategies for working with the media in disseminating research results and moving those results to action. This session seeks presentations, and examples that will give attendees tools they can use in their own projects.

D.2. Accessing research participants in high-risk situations: This session seeks participants who will share their experiences, or who want to learn about how to do outreach to collect data from and work with people who are hidden, involved in illegal or stigmatized behavior, marginalized and/or have high distrust for researchers. Those attending this session will leave with new ideas about how to access and work with these groups.

D.3. Using technology to enhance CBCR projects (e.g., GIS, data analysis software, etc.): This session will use learning stations to introduce participants to the conceptual frameworks and software for GIS (mapping), SPSS (survey data analysis), ANTHROPAC (consensus analysis), UCINET (network research/analysis).

D.4. Proposal development: This workshop will introduce participants to critical elements in project design and the outline of a project argument, methods and evaluation section. It will also review how to read proposal guidelines using federal (NIH, CDC) and foundation examples.

D.5. Games: Innovative interactive methods, techniques, critical thinking exercises etc. This special half-day session seeks contributors who can offer innovative research methods, analysis, observation, organization or other kinds of interactive techniques that make research (theory, methods, analysis, results, use) accessible to the public.

D.6. Empowering youth to do CBCR: This half-day ICR-led session introduces youth workers and educators to curricula and methods for training urban youth in methods of action research for community education, social change and prevention. The session seeks participants who wish to learn and contribute.

D.7. Democratizing science by engaging community residents in CBCR: This half-day ICR-led session introduces interested educators and community activists to curricula and methods for training urban adults (or intergenerational teams) in methods of action research for community development, social change and prevention. The session seeks participants who both wish to learn and to contribute.

D.8./C.11. Developing international research partnerships: This session seeks examples of international research partnerships, with special emphasis on "do's" and "don't's" in the formative, implementation and termination of these relationships. Special attention should be given to local and international political agendas in the definition of projects and relationships.

E. Utilization track

E.1. Linking research to policy: This session will consist of a dialogue between local researchers and funders/policy makers with national change strategies. The dialogue will focus on problems and ways of connecting national/local goals in complementary and mutually reinforcing ways.

E.2. Linking research and service: The goals of services oriented research and service delivery are service improvement. Traditional means of communicating research results to service providers do not work and partnership research with service providers is difficult. This session seeks case examples of successful and unsuccessful models for presentation and discussion.

E.3. Using research results: This session seeks case examples of ways that CBR results are used for improvements in clinical services and social change. Examples can range from transforming formative research to practice, to partnership research where change drives the research and the partnership drives the change.

E.4./D.1. Using the media to disseminate research results: This practical, "how-to" session will provide tips, tools and strategies for working with the media in disseminating research results and moving those results to action. This session seeks presentations, and examples that will give attendees tools they can use in their own projects.

F. Topical Track

F.1. Community level partnership approaches to HIV prevention research: This session invites presentations on interdisciplinary culturally specific or cross-culturally targeted group, diffusion, multilevel, media and structural approaches to HIV prevention. Emphasis is on intervention partnership, theory, program and evaluation design.

F.2. Collaborative approaches to substance abuse research and prevention: This session highlights unique partnership based approaches to research and intervention on disparities in drug use and treatment access across the developmental spectrum with special attention to structural approaches and mixed methods partnership research. Projects that involve the study participants in design, implementation or evaluation are welcome.

F.3. Sustaining approaches to mental health and prevention in multiethnic communities and schools: This session seeks contributions from research/service provider teams working in ethnic specific or multiethnic settings to address the challenges of identifying, unique and culturally framed mental health needs, and implementing and evaluating approaches to meet them in local communities and schools.

F.4. Multimedia approaches combining art and science: a dialogue on empowerment and identity. This session will focus on multimedia visual documentation projects and installations that combine some form of systematic documentation with visual representations. The basis for discussion will be expositions of youth and adult work at the Institute for Community Research and the work of other visual and public art advocates from around the country. Submissions will require the inclusion of materials on CD or video and a write-up of the project to ensure its relevance to the topic.